


Secrets We Keep

by angellwings



Series: We [2]
Category: Timeless (TV 2016)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Drama, F/M, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Speculation, Spoilers, Spoilers for 2x04, Spoilers for 2x05, do you get that there are spoilers yet?, spoilers for 2x01-2x03
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-02
Updated: 2018-04-02
Packaged: 2019-04-17 02:27:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14178522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angellwings/pseuds/angellwings
Summary: Follow up to Choices We Make. Wyatt arranges for a meet up to finally get his answers. Spoilers for 2x01-2x03 and then Spoilers and Speculation for 2x04 and 2x05





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: So, we've reached some weird place now between canon divergent and speculation fic lol. Because I told you guys, Choices would be wrong and welp my bar scene (and eventually probably a lot of other things) was totally wrong. I have a feeling Jessica is just normal average civilian Jessica too. But what I've decided to do is continue what I started in Choices AND still use the stills/press release as basis for this plot. So, it's not what I think is going to happen in 2x05 BUT it could still fit with what we know of that episode so far.  
> If you've read the press release and seen the stills or the promos then you know all the spoilers that will be included in this fic.  
> Honestly, the main reason I wrote this was so you guys could find out where I was going with Jess.  
> Happy reading!  
> PS - If you're reading on FFN I have simply just added this to the Choices We Make listing because FFN doesn't allow a series like Ao3 does and I didn't want to risk those of you who read Choices not finding this one. This is however, technically, a new story.

(1/4)

She wanted to meet. She picked the place and the time. He played frantic and worried and guilt stricken, which really was everything he'd been for about eighty percent of his life span anyway. Not much of a stretch. Once the meeting was set, they went to Christopher with their plan and their suspicions.

Wyatt also ate a healthy dose of crow and made sure to apologize to Denise.

She reluctantly allowed Wyatt to go but only if he'd let a security detail follow him. For his protection.

Even he knew that was a generous deal.

So he took it. Of course he took it. He needed answers.

He spotted Jessica immediately as he approached the small outdoor cafe. He absently twisted his wedding ring around on his finger. He was amazed at how foreign it felt to wear it now.

Jessica was seated with a cool demeanor while her attentive eyes scanned the cafe with an alertness he recognized. He recognized it because he did it. Hyper-vigilance saved his life and more assignments than he could count. She seemed nervous. Like she knew she was being watched.

If she were Rittenhouse then she was probably right.

Looking at her closely as he sat down, the insanity of all of it finally hit him. She'd been dead and now she wasn't. Never was. She looked mostly the same. Her eyes had a hard quality to them and her face had stern lines set in it. Those were the only things that seemed different about Jess. But, in actuality, everything was different. He didn't know her at all.

Her eyes narrowed on him from across the table as she tried to analyze him with a sweeping glance. She looked wary and hesitant. Why she was the hesitant one he couldn't figure out.

"You're alive," he stated with a nervous swallow. Did he really want to know the truth? He was questioning himself now because he didn't know how much of his past was real anymore.

She let out a scoff and then smirked at him. "In the technical sense of the word, sure."

Shouldn't she look apologetic about all she put him through? Or at least pretend to be?

"I told you to come alone," she told him with a shake of her head.

"I did."

"There's an electrician's van across the street that's been sitting there since before I sat down and then a few minutes before you walked up a black sedan appeared down the street from it."

His eyebrows rose. He knew about the sedan but the van couldn't be...

Suddenly they were surrounded. The guests seated around them turned with guns drawn on Jessica and after a moment she laughed and held up her hands in surrender. "Of course."

Denise Christopher made her way through the crowd and shook her head at Wyatt's angry glare. "I didn't let Flynn get away with a secret meeting with one of you," the Agent told him. "Did you really think this would be any different?"

Wyatt hadn't even asked one question. He still had no answers. And now, they'd throw Jessica in some black site until they could properly interrogate her. He was furious. As they led Jessica away Wyatt stormed off to the sedan that dropped him off. He didn't want to be around this any longer than he had to be.

The sight of Lucy waiting for him at the Bunker entrance was the only thing that lightened his mood.

"What happened?" She asked as he stomped toward her.

"We were interrupted by Homeland Security."

Lucy rolled her eyes and huffed. "How did we not see that coming?"

"She offered that trade off too quickly. I should have put it together," Wyatt said with a shake of his head.

"Did you get to talk to her at all?" Lucy asked as she slipped her arm through his and curled her hand around his elbow.

He started walking them toward the common area before he answered her. "Just enough to know that Jessica is not a civilian. Not anymore. She's had training of some kind. She spotted Christopher's surveillance almost immediately."

Lucy's brow furrowed. "Sleeper agent?"

"Maybe," he said with a conflicted sigh.

Lucy leaned up and placed a warm kiss to his cheek before she squeezed his arm in support. "We'll figure it out, Wyatt."

Wyatt spotted Agent Christopher walking toward them just as the alarm sounded that indicated the Mothership had jumped.

"I guess we'll have to figure it out later," Wyatt said with a roll of his eyes.

They turned and headed toward the monitors. Jiya reached the computer first.

"Where and when are we going?" Lucy asked.

"You mean where and when are _they_ going," Christopher corrected her. "You're grounded till that arm has time to heal up some."

Lucy quirked a brow and pursed her lips and Wyatt bit back a wince. He recognized that face. Last time he'd seen it had been while he was forcing them to hold Judith Campbell hostage. That was not a happy Lucy face.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"You're benched for this trip, Lucy," Christopher repeated.

Wyatt tried to back away slowly. Desperately hoping that he could stay out of this argument. Rufus had entered the room and Wyatt was trying to make his way over to him.

"You can't bench me! I'm the historian!" Lucy yelled. "I mean, what are you going to do send them back without me? We all know that won't end well."

"Your arm is in a sling," Agent Christopher said with a tired sigh. "Do you really want to put the Lifeboat's restraints over it?"

"I-but-what if they get in a situation that they can't history themselves out of? They're going to need me." and then just as Wyatt was almost clear of Lucy and Christopher, Lucy's voice caught him. "Right, Wyatt?"

 _Damn_.

He turned to face her and opened his mouth to speak but really didn't want to so no words formed.

"Really?" Lucy asked in flat tone after several moments of silence had passed.

He scratched the back of his neck nervously before he continued. "I mean, she kind of has a point."

"Excuse me?" Lucy asked as she turned her arched brow and pursed lips on him.

See, this is what he'd been trying to avoid, but it was too late now. He'd never shied away from disagreeing with Lucy before and he shouldn't start now. Especially when it concerned her health. So, now he had to own it.

He approached Lucy and ran a hand up and down her good arm soothingly. "Come on, Professor," he said softly with an equally soft lopsided grin. "You know as well as I do that traveling in the Lifeboat is uncomfortable even when we're uninjured, and you know you don't want to deal with the seasickness in addition to your injured arm. Not to mention the way that damn eyeball knocks us all around. One trip and your arm would end up in worse shape than it is now and then you'd _really_ be benched. It sucks, but Agent Christopher is right."

As he hoped, her tense expression faded into one of resignation and she nodded with a sigh. "Fine. You have some valid points."

He smirked and chuckled at her. "Is that your way of saying I'm right?"

"Does now seem like a good time to be teasing me, Logan?" Lucy asked him with narrowed eyes. Her threatening tone was undone by the upward twitch of her lips. It wasn't quite a smile but it was close enough.

"No time like the present, Preston."

"Speaking of time," Agent Christopher said as she cleared her throat and gave them both a pointed stare. "Despite the fact that she can't go with you she did bring up a big problem. We cannot send the two of you back in time without any one to provide historical context. We do that and who the hell knows what you and Rufus might change."

"If I can't go, though," Lucy said with a furrowed brow. "Then who?"

"Um, I have an idea," Rufus said as he cleared his throat from the door of the Lifeboat. "You're all going to hate it."

They gave him expectant looks as they waited for him to elaborate.

"There is one person here who knows almost as much about history as Lucy does and, bonus, he's read her diary so he _kinda_ knows where and when we're going to go before we do," Rufus said with a sheepish grin.

Lucy glared at him and her mouth dropped open in shock. "No. _No_. Absolutely not. Garcia Flynn is not sitting in my seat."

Wyatt scoffed and then gave her a knowing look. "Doesn't feel so good when it's you now, does it?"

"How many times do I have to apologize?" Lucy asked him with a sigh and an apologetic glance.

"I'll get back to you on that," Wyatt answered with a grin.

"There's really no one else," Rufus told them. "Unless, you know, Wyatt or myself can get an advanced degree in US History in the next five minutes."

Lucy huffed with a slight pout and a stomp of her foot before she conceded. "Fine. Okay. I guess."

Despite the idea of time traveling with Flynn, he found himself laughing softly at Lucy. "Very mature, ma'am."

"You know, in a few minutes you're going to be stuck in a very small space sitting across from Garcia Flynn," Lucy reminded him with a teasing glare. "I'm not sure I would be laughing if I were you."

The smirk dropped from his face and he groaned miserably. "This is going to be an unbearable mission."


	2. Chapter 2

(2/4)

Lucy, Agent Christopher, and Jiya watched as the Lifeboat groaned, shuttered, and spun out of existence. Almost as soon as it was gone, Agent Christopher got a text message on her phone. She furrowed her brow and glanced between the text and Lucy a few times before Jiya couldn't take the tense silence any longer.

"Are you gonna share with the class or..."

"I'm thinking," Denise said with a sigh.

"I don't like the sound of that," Lucy said as she and Jiya exchanged worried looks.

"Jessica Logan has not responded to interrogation," Denise told them both as she continued to stare at the text. "She clammed up and won't speak unless we meet one demand."

"She wants to speak with Wyatt?" Jiya asked with a flat expectant look.

"Nope," Denise told them in a rueful tone.

Lucy gave Denise a questioning look. "Then what was her demand?"

Denise looked away from the text to meet Lucy's eyes. "She'll only speak to _you_."

"Me?" Lucy asked with a bewildered expression. "How does she even know who the hell I am?"

"I'm guessing it has something to do with Rittenhouse. Like everything else happening in our lives," Jiya answered with a bitter chuckle. "Right? And why do all the criminals only want to speak to Lucy?"

Lucy scoffed with a dry grin. "Must be my charm."

"Are you up for it?" Agent Christopher asked Lucy with an impassive expression. Lucy knew that look meant that Agent Christopher wasn't going to force her to do it or make her feel guilty for saying no, but Denise thought she should. She thought that Jessica might have new intel on Rittenhouse and that Lucy could get it out of her.

"We need all we can get on Rittenhouse right now so I'm not sure I have much of a choice," Lucy answered. "And I have to admit, I'm more than a little curious to meet her."

Curious, sure. But she also wanted to look this woman in the eye and find out how she could live with herself after destroying Wyatt Logan the way that she did. How could she have planned to fake her death like that if she knew Wyatt as well as she should have? _How?_

"Okay, Fine. Get ready then. We're leaving in ten," Christopher said as she typed out a reply to the earlier text.

* * *

Lucy had watched a few cop shows in her life and she knew what they showed an interrogation to look like. She expected TV to be inaccurate. She expected Homeland Security to maybe have a nicer set up. She expected wrong. It looked exactly like television. Jessica was handcuffed to a beat up metal table in a dingy room with a flickering light, and Lucy stood with Agent Christopher on the other side of a two way mirror in a room that was equally dingy and worn.

She took a moment to study Jessica Logan and found her very different from the woman she pictured. She'd seen the photo Wyatt used to carry around with him. The bright woman in that photo was not the woman sitting in the interrogation room. That woman looked hard and tired.

And even if she was Rittenhouse, Lucy could relate.

Which was the opposite of what she wanted right now. She wanted to hate her. She wanted to be able to tell Christopher to lock her up and throw away the key. This woman hurt Wyatt. Nearly broke him completely. He stopped caring about living his life because of her. Lucy _should_ continue to hold the grudge she'd been working on.

But something about Jessica Logan spoke to Lucy. The distance, the resignation, the apathy. Lucy had seen it all before on herself _and_ Wyatt.

Where had Jessica Logan been? What had she been doing?

Lucy was dying to know.

"Whenever you're ready," Christopher said gently. "She might try to get under your skin or bait you...don't let her. Okay?"

Lucy nodded. "Okay."

She took a deep breath before heading into the interrogation room. She entered the room and stood in front of the table where Jessica was seated. She was finally face to face with this ghost. This woman who'd plagued Wyatt for so long. Wyatt's many tortured expressions over the course of their relationship flashed through her mind and she couldn't hold back the venomous glare she threw at the other woman.

"Well, you wanted me," Lucy said with a huff. "Here I am. What is it you need to say?"

She chuckled and shook her head. "I don't need to say anything. I just wanted to see you."

"For what reason?" Lucy asked with a furrowed brow.

"Because if you're here it means none of these people are Rittenhouse," Jessica said as a relieved smile spread across her face. "It means I'm not about to face off against a firing squad."

"What?" Lucy asked in confusion. "But you are Rittenhouse."

"Maybe I was, once," Jessica told her before she smirked up at Lucy again. "But from what I've learned so were you. For however brief a time. We're really not that different, you and me."

Lucy scoffed. "Except I didn't fake my death and leave my husband wallowing in guilt. I was taken against my will."

"What makes you think I wasn't?" Jessica asked her. "Do you really think I _wanted_ to do that to him? Do you think I had any clue what they planned to do to cover their tracks? I never would have agreed if I knew-" She stopped and took a fortifying breath before shaking her head repeatedly. "Wyatt and I had our issues, but I would never be that cruel to him. You can think I'm a bitch all you want, but I'm not vindictive. Wyatt didn't deserve that."

Lucy bit her bottom lip and narrowed her eyes thoughtfully on the woman in front of her. Did she really mean that? She sounded sincere. She sounded sorrowful and angry. "Okay, then what actually happened? If you didn't want to do that then how did it happen?"

"They don't give you all the details," she answered with a sigh. "They give you orders. They seem odd but they have a reason. Pick a fight with your husband. Meet your handler on Portero Road, mile marker 47."

Lucy barely held back her gasp. She knew that location. She heard someone say it once before.

"They seem innocuous and usually it was all for a status update. Something like, 'the machine isn't ready but we're close. Stay alert.' That's what I was expecting. I thought I'd fight with him, get out of the car, get my update and then later, when he'd cooled off, he'd come back for me and we'd go home. But...it wasn't a status update. They were calling me in. I was pulled into a town car and taken away. They didn't tell me about my 'death' or how they planned to do it. I would never have met my handler that night if I knew. Rittenhouse knew that. They considered my decency my weakness."

For the first time since Lucy laid eyes on Jessica she saw something in her expression other than bitter defeat. She looked heartbroken. She looked like she wanted nothing more than to rewind the clock and change it. It was a sentiment she'd seen on Wyatt more times than she could count.

"I had fallen out of love with Wyatt by then. We both had and we knew it. Our marriage was hanging on by a thread. But even if I wasn't _in love_ with him, I still loved him, cared about him. It made them question my loyalties so they called me in for training. They said it was to prepare me for my mission, but that wasn't it. Yes, I learned how to use any kind of weapon you can imagine and I learned hand to hand combat. I learned techniques for deception and seduction. But that was barely half of what they were trying to instill in me," Jessica admitted.

Lucy didn't know why she was still talking. No one had asked more questions but Lucy wasn't going to stop her. Something about this seemed to therapeutic for Jessica _and_ it was useful information for their cause. Though, Lucy had a feeling she knew _intimately_ about what was coming next.

"Their propaganda was everywhere," Jessica told her before she looked up at met Lucy's eyes. "Though, you've been there. I'm sure you know."

Lucy flinched at the reminder but said nothing. Yes, she knew what was coming.

"They repeated it until it played on a loop in my head. They isolated me from anyone I ever loved. My family, my friends, Wyatt. They tried to strip me of who I was. They shouted things at me. Horrible things. Mistakes I'd made, people I'd hurt, the lies I told. They wrapped all of it in the failings of common humanity. Once that was done the next step seemed to be building up all the ways they could help me fix it. They could help me achieve-"

"Absolution," Lucy said as she swallowed thickly and met Jessica's eyes for the first time. While she'd been talking, Lucy had felt the pressure of those six weeks returning. Her chest felt heavy and her head was starting to ache. The guilt, the manipulation. They knew how to rip holes in a person and then fill them in with their sick doctrine.

Jessica nodded but didn't reply. She didn't need to.

It occurred to Lucy to doubt Jessica. To question whether or not she was being manipulated. It was possible. She wouldn't put it past Rittenhouse to use the story of their own horrors to manipulate her. But she found she couldn't doubt her. She saw the pain and the truth of it in Jessica's eyes. They suffered the same torture. You could only find the look of understanding they were currently sharing in someone who intimately knew your pain.

"Once they thought they'd broken me, they started to include me in their plans. I'd been there for two years before I snapped out of it. It took two years for me to witness something so horrible that I couldn't live with myself if I stayed there another second-they-" she paused and closed her eyes tightly. "There was a man who found out about Rittenhouse. An NSA operative. They ordered a strike operation on him. I was in Ops, watching from a satellite feed as it went down. I thought they were just going to take _him_ out but they-there was a little girl. His daughter and his wife. Innocent people who knew nothing and had nothing to do with any of it. They didn't even bat an eye. They undid all their brainwashing with one satellite feed. I broke out that night. Ran as far and as fast as I could."

Lucy's eyes were wide and watering now. Oh god. That description was so similar to-it couldn't be. There was not a chance in hell that Jessica witnessed...

"The operative they were after," Lucy said with a nervous gulp. "Do you remember his name?"

"Yes," she answered. "Because he's the entire reason you're sitting here right now. They created their own worst enemy that night. They created _Garcia Flynn_ and they've regretted it ever since."


	3. Chapter 3

(3/4)

"You believe her?" Agent Christopher asked during a break from interrogation. "You believe everything she told you?"

"Yes, actually I do," she answered. "You've never been on the inside of it. They--everything she said about how they try to break people is true. The emotions in her eyes can't be faked _that well_. They took her from what she knew and they bent her to their will."

"And now she's on the run and they want her dead?" Denise asked. "Is that what we're thinking? If that's the case then why run when she saw Master Sergeant Logan?"

Lucy sighed and took a sip of her coffee. "I guess that's the next thing I ask her. But if this is all true then..."

"She's been through hell just like all of us," Denise said as she completed Lucy's thought.

"She knows more about Rittenhouse than myself and Flynn combined. We need her help. Plus, she's well trained and we could use another combat ready person on the team. You know we could," Lucy told her.

She wanted to hate Jessica but she couldn't. She initially told Wyatt she wanted to lock her up and never see her again but now she just couldn't do it. They should be working with her. Not arresting her.

"If you can find out why she ran from our side then I'll consider it," Denise offered with a sigh. "That bunker is getting pretty full though. You sure you want to add Wyatt's formerly dead wife to the mix?"

"No, but we need all the help we can get right now," Lucy answered honestly. "And she can help us."

* * *

"Okay, so you've told me how you ran away from Rittenhouse," Lucy said as she sat down across from Jessica a few minutes later. "Why don't you tell me why you ran from Wyatt?"

"It's funny," Jessica said with a smirk. "That agent that arrested me, and everyone else here for that matter, calls him Master Sergeant but _you_ call him Wyatt? Why is that?"

"I'm not sure how that's relevant to our discussion right now," Lucy said with a shake of her head.

"You know you're obvious, don't you? I saw it in your glare when you first walked in. I heard it in your tone when you brought up how I left him," Jessica told her with a knowing grin. "You're in love with him. You can admit. I mean I'm dead, right? So it's not like I'm a threat or anything."

"This is not about me or Wyatt," Lucy said with a huff. "This is about you. Why did you run?"

She shrugged. "I didn't know whose side he was on. I didn't know if they'd recruited him to get to me. And even if they hadn't, I couldn't risk being exposed."

"So then why call him at all? Why leave him the ring and the burner phone? Why wouldn't you just disappear?" Lucy asked.

"You know him well, I'm assuming," Jessica said with a dry chuckle. "Do you think he would have stopped looking for me? I hoped maybe the ring and the voicemail I left him would help him see that I wasn't who he thought I was. That he would put it together for himself. The meet up was my back up plan. Speaking with him on the phone threw me. I thought the only way to really stop him was to talk in person. Though, now I can see that it was all ploy to arrest me. Probably should have thought of that."

"Probably," Lucy agreed with a small grin.

"Look," Jessica said with a sigh. "Far be it for me to deny Wyatt love. I hurt him. I have no right. But it's impossible for someone involved in Rittenhouse to really love. They will destroy it. I've fallen in love twice in my life now. Wyatt was my first. My second was while I was hiding. They ruined both. Do you really think Wyatt can handle that again? Because everyone at Rittenhouse knows who you are, and any outsider you care about will immediately be targeted."

Lucy was taken aback by that. Jessica was offering her advice on Wyatt? _Jessica._ Lucy scoffed and shook her head. "I think I'll let Wyatt decide what risks he's willing to take. Besides, he's already targeted whether I'm in love with him or not. We all have pissed off Rittenhouse on this team. So, at this point, we're all on their hit list. What was in that evidence you burned?" Lucy asked as she urged the conversation passed her love life.

"Oh no," Jessica said with a smirk. "I can't tell you all my secrets. If I do that then you won't need me anymore. And _you do_ need me. I know too much about your enemy or else they wouldn't want me dead. I'm done talking now. Either you're convinced I'm useful or you're not. Giving away my intel does not help me."

She leaned back in her chair and gave Lucy a confident smirk and then glanced toward the mirrored wall.

"If you've for a deal for me, let me hear it," Jessica said to whoever was on other side of the glass. "Otherwise, you get nothing."

There was a knock on the glass and Lucy assumed that meant Christopher wanted to see her. Jessica watched with a knowing smile as Lucy stood and left the room.

Agent Christopher met her in the hallway. "Let me take it from here. Negotiations are for me to decide. I can't have you promising anyone else their freedom like you did Flynn."

"You don't have anything linking her to any illegal activity like Flynn, though," Lucy said with a furrowed brow. "You can't hold her here."

"Identity theft and fraud. She's using a social security number that belongs to Amanda Miller, a young woman who passed a few years ago. I can keep her based on that for long enough," Agent Christopher answered immediately.

Lucy sighed and shook her head. "I'm wary of her too, okay? I get it, but I genuinely think she's on our side. We can't turn down a lead like this."

"We'll see. I'll have my agents escort you back to the bunker," Christopher said with a blank expression as she pulled the door to the interrogation room open and stepped inside.

Lucy huffed and then dutifully followed the two agents waiting to escort her back to their hellhole away from home.

No matter what happened next, Lucy had answers for Wyatt. Strange, bewildering, heartbreaking answers but at least it was something.

* * *

When she arrived back at the bunker the guys still weren't back so she retreated to her room for some rest. Her arm was starting to hurt and the emotions of talking to Jessica had worn her down a bit. She took a couple of painkillers and laid down on her cot.

She let the world go dark for a moment as her closed and she gave in to sleep. When she woke, it was to the sound of the alarm indicating a jump had been made. She walked briskly to the silo and stood next to Jiya to wait.

There was noise behind her as someone entered the bunker. She turned just as the breeze from the landing of Lifeboat could be felt and her eyes widened.

Agent Christopher had returned, with Jessica Logan right behind her.

So, they were doing this now? She didn't even get a chance to talk to Wyatt about it first? _Shit,_ Lucy thought to herself as she heard the Lifeboat powering down.

"Oh my god," Jessica said as she stared at the Lifeboat. "You mean they actually got it to work? Rittenhouse was bankrolling development for years but they actually got it to _work?"_

No one bothered answering her. Lucy was holding her breath until the hatch opened and she could see her guys come climbing out.

Finally, the hatch moved and as it slid open she could see Wyatt waiting with an unconscious man braced against him. She also noticed the wedding ring Jessica left him was still on his hand and apparently Jessica noticed too because Lucy heard her scoff loud and clear.

The mysterious man wasn't Rufus and it wasn't Flynn.

Mason moved the stairs in front of the Lifeboat and helped Wyatt carry the man over to the nearest table.

Rufus came climbing out next. There was no sign of Flynn. Lucy raced over to the body and recognized him immediately.

"Oh my god, please tell me that's not who I think it is," Lucy said in an exasperated tone.

"It's not," Rufus replied nervously. "Unless you think it's a young JFK then that's exactly who you think it is."

"Oh. My. God," Lucy repeated as she stared at the unconscious would-be President. "What--How--where's Flynn?"

Wyatt hadn't noticed Jessica yet. He'd been too busy with their precious cargo. He winced and then hesitantly looked Lucy in the eye. "Mission went a little sideways. We had to get JFK away from Rittenhouse and we only had three seats in the Lifeboat so..."

"You _left him?_ You left Garcia Flynn in the past _alone_?" Lucy asked with wide eyes and a raised voice.

"Well, we couldn't leave Rufus, I wasn't gonna trust Flynn alone with JFK, and we couldn't take a chance at JFK developing some crazy Time Sickness so yeah. We left him," Wyatt told her in a frantic tone. "We're gonna go back for him just as soon as the Lifeboat recharges."

"See, this is why you two should never travel without me. When you do, things like _this_ happen!" Lucy said with a nervous gulp. "He cannot leave the bunker, you understand? We absolutely cannot let him leave! This--this could change everything! What if something happens to him here or we alter some future decision he makes and--what if he never becomes president? Huh? What then? Oh god this is a mess!"

"Trust us, we are aware!" Rufus yelled. "It was a mess from the minute we landed!"

Wyatt's eyes finally drifted beyond the table and Lucy knew the minute he spotted Jessica. She saw rage and sorrow and guilt flash across his eyes all at once.

"Shit," he breathed. "What the hell is she doing here?" He asked Lucy quietly.

"I'm assuming Christopher made a deal with her after I finished interrogating her," Lucy answered as she gave Wyatt an apologetic glance. "I was hoping to catch you up before that happened but Christopher moved faster than I anticipated."

"Wait, hold on," Wyatt said as his eyes narrowed on Lucy in confusion. "You--What?"

"She asked to speak with me. She wouldn't talk to anyone else," Lucy answered quietly with a small shrug. "So, I went, I talked, I listened."

"But if she's here in the bunker then..."

"She's not Rittenhouse, Wyatt. Not anymore," Lucy said quickly.

"Not anymore?" He asked with a furrowed brow. "Somebody needs to fill me in right damn now. What does that mean?"

"Do you want to hear it from me or do you want to hear it from her?" Lucy asked him. "I'd be happy to tell you but it might be better for you if you let her clear the air directly. Her story isn't at all what we expected."

Before he could give her an answer Jessica was standing beside of them and looking Wyatt directly in the eyes.

"We need to talk," she declared. "Now."

He glanced from Jessica to Lucy and Lucy gave him a weak smile and an encouraging nod.

"Go," Lucy told him. Before she continued she flashed him a small teasing smirk. "Talk to her. I'll keep an eye on the president you and Rufus kidnapped."

"We didn't kidnap him!" Rufus declared defensively. "We just knocked him out and threw him in a time machine for safe keeping."

"Safe keeping?" Lucy asked with a chuckle. "That's the best you've got?"

"To be fair, I'm mildly panicking right now. You're lucky I'm able to form words at all," Rufus said with wide eyes and a nervous gulp. "Or that I haven't, you know, passed out."


	4. Chapter 4

(4/4)

"Sleeping with Rittenhouse Royalty, Wyatt, really?"

He stopped and stared at Jessica in amazement as they secluded themselves in his and Rufus's room. His stare quickly turned into an angry glare before he replied.

"Is that truly the first thing you want to say to me, right now?" He sneered.

She smirked in response. "Ah, so you are sleeping with her. Thank you for confirming that for me. Your Lucy wouldn't talk to me about it."

"What the hell are you trying to do here?" He asked in with narrowed eyes. "What is this?"

"What? I figured one more fight for old times sake," She said with a grin as she sat down on Rufus's cot.

What was happening? How was she so callous about all of this? Why was she _trying_ to piss him off?

"Okay, you wanna fight?" He asked in a raised voice. "Let's fight. Just like we used to. Who the _hell_ are you? Is your name really Jessica? Do I even know one real damn thing about you? Was anything we had together real? How long were you Rittenhouse?" By the time he finished he was yelling and he was certain the whole bunker could hear him.

"Wow, yeah, this is just like old times," Jessica said with a scoff. "You assuming things before I even get a chance to talk about it. Nice."

"Will you just stop being such a smart ass for one damn minute and be real here?" Wyatt asked as he pressed the heels of his hands to his forehead and willed himself to calm down. This was what she did to him. This was always what she did to him. God, did he ever remember it now.

She huffed and rolled her eyes. "Fine. Look, it wasn't like that. What we had was very real, okay? I did love you. I really did. You were the only other person I met who jumped headfirst into as many things as I did with such little concern for the rules," she said with a chuckle and a fond grin. "We had some great times in the beginning and none of that was a lie. That's not how Rittenhouse works."

"Then how does it work?" He asked with a sigh as he sat down across from her on his own cot. "How did they recruit you?"

"They didn't," she told him. "I'm from a Rittenhouse family. Not a pure blooded one like your girlfriend's out there, but we've been members for a few generations now."

"Wait, what?" He asked in confusion. "But I know your parents and they aren't-"

"What? They don't act like bigoted control freaks?" She asked with a smirk. "Who does, Wyatt?"

He couldn't seem to process that. He stared at her for a long quiet moment before she finally gave up on waiting for him and continued.

"See, I broke the rules," she told him with a shake of her head. "I married an outsider. They kind of frown on that. They really, really frown on that. As in, divorce him or we'll murder him in his sleep frown on that."

"They blackmailed you?" He asked as he was finally able to understand her words again. "With me?"

"At first, yeah," she said with a sigh. "But then I made a deal with them. I'd volunteer to be a sleeper if they'd back off of you. We were already on the rocks at that point but that didn't matter to them. They'd kill you even if I hated you if for no other reason than to punish me for breaking the rules. So I made the deal. I was assigned a handler who would keep me updated on the time machine's progress. That night I went missing I was told to meet my handler on Portero Road. I thought it was just for an update but...they thought I was a loose canon or that I was going to back out of the deal so they called me in early," she told him.

Her tone softened and she looked away from him as she continued. He could see her eyes glistening as if she were holding back tears. "I honestly I had no idea how or if or when they were going to fake my death, Wyatt. If I'd have known...I-Goddammit-I'm just sorry. I never meant for any of that to come back on you the way it did. I know that must have killed you, I don't even know how you're still so...sane right now," she said as she managed to meet his eyes.

As much as he wanted to, he couldn't doubt her story. Her eyes were hurt and regretful and extremely honest. But that didn't mean all was forgiven. She'd still lied to him and betrayed him and left him broken. Which reminded him of the brilliant historian probably anxiously waiting for him in the common room, right at this very moment.

He looked away from Jessica and smiled softly before he replied to her. "You can thank Lucy and Rufus for that. They saved me. This assignment saved me."

"Well, I'm grateful you found them then," she said quietly. "You never deserved to live with the guilt I caused you. I hope they showed you that."

"Little by little, yeah, they did," he admitted.

"I know I pressed your buttons earlier," she said apologetically. "About Lucy. It was just more fun to fight with you then to have this conversation so...seemed like an easy target."

He quirked a brow at her and smirked slightly. "You weren't wrong."

"Just...be careful, okay?" Jessica said in a warning tone. "She's pureblood Rittenhouse. They are not going to want her with anyone who isn't one of them."

His brow furrowed. "She's been engaged before and they didn't do anything about it," he told her. He hated to say that but it was technically true.

Jessica let out a bitter chuckle. "Yeah? Then that guy was probably Rittenhouse. No way the Powers That Be let the little princess marry someone who's unworthy of her bloodline. Trust me. I know these people."

Wyatt's eyes narrowed as he thought about it but eventually he gave her a lopsided grin and shrugged. "Makes sense I guess. The guy was a total douchebag."

"Or," Jessica said as she gave him a knowing smile. "You were a jealous idiot and hated him just because he was with her."

He shook his head and chuckled. "Nah, dude was a straight up douchebag."

She rolled her eyes at him. "Whatever you say, lover boy." Her eyes drifted from him to stare at the wedding ring on his finger. "Why are you wearing that?"

He let out a tired sigh and slipped it off his finger. "I wore it to meet you this morning and then we had to leave almost as soon as I got back. I just forgot to take it off. This is what you used to pick a fight with me so you could meet your handler, isn't it?"

She nodded. "Yes. I had to. I felt awful for creating an unnecessary problem when we were already so...well, broken. I was hoping leaving it, would piss you off so much you'd leave me alone."

"If I wasn't fighting for my life, for Lucy's life, for Rufus's life...it might have. But I can't let Rittenhouse trap us down here like this. I refuse to let my friends live in fear. We need any and all intel we can get and I thought you might know something," he told her with a shrug. "I did not, however, know that Christopher was going to arrest you. I should have, but I didn't."

"You know, I'm actually a bit jealous," Jessica admitted as she watched him toss his old wedding band up in the air and catch it repeatedly. "I haven't had a team or friends or anyone to care about in about three years. I've been bouncing from place to place for a while now. I never stay too long."

"Well," Wyatt said with a teasing half smile. "You're stuck here now so you'll be staying a while. Just like the rest of us."

"So, you think we can do this?" She asked him. "You and me and your girlfriend under the same roof?"

"I think nothing is simple in any of our lives anymore and Lucy's gotten pretty used to adapting to it by now," Wyatt said as a fondness slipped back into his voice. "She's arguably better at adapting to this stuff than me, honestly."

"You really love her, don't you?" Jessica asked him with a small amazed smile. "I can hear it in your voice."

"Yeah," he told her. "I do. I mean, I loved you, I really did. And a part of me always will in some way but with Lucy...God, Jess, it is so much bigger than love. I don't even know if there's a word to describe it, really. I can't think of one, any way. Lucy probably could think of one if I asked," Wyatt said with a chuckle.

"In that case," she said with a warm smile. "Screw Rittenhouse. If you found someone you love so much that you can't put it into words then you better not ever let go, Wyatt. You hear me?"

He nodded. "I hear you, and trust me, I don't plan to."

"Good," she told him with a sad smile. "I know what that kind of love feels like and Rittenhouse ripped it away from me. That was three years ago and I'm still not over it, don't make my mistakes, Wyatt. If it comes down to it, I better see you fight for her. Okay?"

Jessica had fallen in love with someone while they were apart? Someone who made her feel the way he felt about Lucy? What the hell did Rittenhouse do to ruin it?

He was dying to know, but he didn't ask. She didn't look like she wanted to talk about it.

Instead he simply replied, "Okay."

There was a knock on his door and Wyatt had to laugh.

"What? You guys only know how to knock when Lucy and I _aren't_ alone?" He called out. "Come in."

Rufus opened the door with a smirk, but it quickly fell and was replaced with panic. "Funny, man, and if I didn't have bad news I'd take the time to say something snarky in return. But I do, so I won't because _JFK escaped_."

"He-he what? Rufus, you can't be serious," Wyatt exclaimed as he stood and headed for the door.

"Unfortunately, I am and Lucy is full on freaking out," Rufus told him as Wyatt pushed passed him to the common area. Once Wyatt was gone, Rufus turned to Jessica with an awkward smile. "Hi, I'm Rufus," he said as he held his hand out for a handshake.

"Jessica," she said as she gave him an amused grin and shook his hand.

"Cool, cool, well, um, welcome to the hellhole. Let me know if you need anything. I would give you a tour but, uh-"

"You've got to go rein in a future-past-president who's about to discover California nightlife in the year 2018?" She asked with a smirk as they released hands.

"Yeah, that sounds about right," Rufus said with a nod. "Man, my life is _weird_."

"Tell me about it," Jessica said with a snort. "I've been on the run from an evil cult for five years and now I live with my husband-ex-husband?-and his evil cult royalty girlfriend."

"Yeah, you know, I think you win," Rufus said as he gave her an awkward glance and headed for the hallway. "Yikes."

"Do you think they'd let me tag along on the field trip to track down JFK?" Jessica asked him as she followed him out of the room.

"Sure, why not? Could a not-dead wife really make this situation any worse?" Rufus asked her with a smirk.

* * *

In the end they'd gotten JFK back to the past and retrieved Flynn. They chased the young JFK all over town and into a hospital where Emma had nearly taken him out, but they'd set it all right and when Rufus, Wyatt, and Flynn returned to the present his course hadn't been altered at all. He still did everything he would have done before they brought him to the present.

It was a relief for everyone but especially Lucy who had been near frantic when the young John Kennedy went missing.

She threw her good arm around Wyatt the minute his feet hit the silo floor.

"Thank god," she said as she hugged him. "This has been the most stressful day."

He chuckled and kissed her temple as he returned her hug. "We're finally off the clock, Professor. You can relax."

"Sure," she said with a laugh. "It's not like we're living with your not-dead wife and a time terrorist or anything."

"What? You mean that's not normal?" Wyatt asked as he pulled back from the embrace to smirk at her.

"No," Lucy said with a roll of her eyes and a playful grin. "But then nothing about us has ever been normal so why start now?"

"You make an excellent point," Wyatt told her. "But there is one thing about normal that I wish we had."

"What's that?" She asked as she put her arm around his neck again.

"See a normal couple could find a place to get away from their friends and be _alone_ for a few hours," he told her with a smirk as he tightened his arms around her waist. "But we're stuck with these idiots who don't even know how to knock. We also share rooms with other people. It's not at all convenient."

"Oh, well, good thing for you that you have a very smart...uh--girlfriend? Is that what I am? Are we doing that girlfriend and boyfriend thing?--you know what, not important," Lucy said as she shook the thoughts away and tried to return to her original point.

Wyatt laughed softly and smiled at her with bright amused eyes as he waited for her to continue.

"My _point_ was, you're lucky I'm smart and think ahead because I convinced Jiya to switch rooms with you tonight. Though, it wasn't very hard, I think she and Rufus wanted some time alone too," Lucy said with a smirk. "So, tonight, we get the first _real_ alone time we've had since 1941 and, let me tell you, I am very much looking forward to it."

"You're right, I'm _very_ lucky," Wyatt replied with a wide smile and a quiet chuckle. "And to answer your question, we are definitely doing the girlfriend and boyfriend thing. I think you definitely deserve that title. Also, I don't care if they've agreed to the alone time or not, we're putting a damn chair in front of your door. Alright?"

She laughed and nodded. "Agreed. No more interruptions."

_fin._


End file.
